Run Time: Approx. 70 minutes

Anton Bruckner, born in 1824, was an Austrian composer and organist best known for his expansive symphonies as well as his choral and liturgical works. To fully appreciate Bruckner’s music, it’s important to consider two significant influences on his work.

First, Bruckner was an exceptional organist, and his work was greatly shaped by both the characteristics of the organ and by the church music that makes up much of the instrument’s repertoire.

Unlike other instruments, the organ is unable to naturally taper dynamics; dynamic shifts are therefore achieved mechanically by pushing in or releasing stops. As a result, organ music often features abrupt and dramatic changes in volume and character. This quality is unmistakably present in Bruckner’s orchestral writing. While he does take advantage of the orchestra’s ability to contour dynamics more fluidly, his music frequently shifts suddenly between moments of quiet introspection and overwhelming grandeur.

Bruckner’s writing for the brass section is particularly iconic, marked by bold, radiant chorales that burst forth with joyful abandon. When the brass enters in these towering climaxes—just as thrilling to play as they are to hear—it evokes the feeling of sitting in a great cathedral, reveling in the sonic power of an organ at full tilt.

The key element to consider when listening to Bruckner’s music is his deep adoration for his Austrian and German predecessors and contemporaries. He revered Beethoven, Schubert, Liszt, Mozart, and most especially Wagner–and all their voices can be heard throughout his work. In the Fourth Symphony, however, it is perhaps Beethoven’s influence that stands out most clearly, particularly in the way Bruckner evokes elements of nature.

Given the subtitle “Romantic” by Bruckner himself, the Symphony opens with an expansive horn call. The horn carries a rich symbolic weight, long associated with the outdoors due to its origins as a hunting instrument. It has served as a signaling device—from ancient ritual instruments like the shofar, to the post horn announcing the arrival of the mail, or military bugle calls marking the beginning or end of the day. Throughout the symphony, Bruckner taps into all these associations, using the horn to conjure scenes of nature, the hunt, and to announce triumphant arrivals.

Bruckner describes the first movement as a sort of historical snapshot. “Medieval city–Daybreak–Morning calls sound from the city towers–the gates open–On proud horses the knights burst out into the open, the magic of nature envelops them–forest murmurs–bird song–and so the Romantic picture develops further…”

The second movement is a slow, mournful lament, carried by steady, plodding rhythms that give it the character of a funeral march. Yet even within this somber atmosphere, Bruckner cannot resist moments of transcendence: the music builds to a shimmering brass chorale before gently receding back into repose.

The third movement is a vivid evocation of the hunt, driven by bold horn calls that subtly nod to Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony. In the Finale, Bruckner brings the work full circle, returning to the noble horn calls of the first movement—now inverted into a descending figure, as if answering a question first posed at the symphony’s opening. The movement builds, culminating in an earth-shattering conclusion that transforms the symphony’s opening material into a mighty ending.